Armstrong's career ends amid allegations

ADELAIDE, Australia, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- The international cycling career of Lance Armstrong ended Sunday in Adelaide, Australia, amid more doping allegations.

The seven-time Tour de France winner didn't talk to the media during the final stage of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide -- the final competition of his lengthy career.

The event was overshadowed by an article that appeared in New Zealand's Sunday Star Times newspaper quoting Armstrong's former personal assistant as saying the cycling icon was in danger of becoming a permanent "symbol for decades of corruption."

American Mike Anderson, who now owns a bicycle shop in Wellington, New Zealand, told the newspaper he had been contacted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of its probe of doping allegations surrounding Armstrong.

A Los Angeles grand jury has been convened to hear evidence in the case.

Armstrong attorney Mark Fabiani, however, dismissed Anderson's comments, telling the Sydney Morning Herald, "Mr. Anderson is a disgruntled former employee with zero credibility: His lawsuit against Lance failed and his most recent fabrications are contradicted by page after page of sworn testimony."